Big K could close in days as parties fail to reach agreement
Kellingley Colliery could close 'in as little as 48 hours' as agreements over a managed shutdown look unlikely to be secured.
Selby
Employers at UK Coal and the Kellingley branch of the National Union of Mineworkers have so-far failed reach agreement over plans that would see the deep mine remain open as operations are wound-down.
Crunch talks between the two parties follow the offer of a £10m loan from the Government to allow for a managed shutdown to take place over an 18 month period, as opposed to immediate closure. There are currently no offers on the table that would see the pit stay open as a 'going concern'.
Closure plans for the one-time super pit were announced last week as the mine's troubled owners launched a last ditch effort to safe the ailing company.
Some 250 of the union's members met to discuss the offer on Sunday. A show of hands was made with many members expressing anger that their only choice was seemingly between 'redundancy now or redundancy next year'.
Calling for further talks on this evening's BBC Look North programme, Keith Poulson, NUM's branch secretary said, "I can't see how you can have a workforce that's going to be committed to a programme that's eventually going to put them on the dole"